THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY IS IMPORTANT TO OUR FAMILY
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Dad and his birthday cake
and my son Matt
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Because my Dad's birthday fell near Thanksgiving, our family has always really celebrated Thanksgiving big. As Dad got older, we made it a family reunion almost as important as Christmas.
This year my Dad, who lived to be 100, will not celebrate Thanksgiving with us. He died on October 12th. However, I am thankful that he lived such a full life and died without pain with only a short illness. I am also thankful for what he taught me about living well with faith. He never smoked or drank alcohol and attended church devotedly.
I found this description of Thanksgiving on the internet. I will paste it here for our students to read.
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| Betty and visiting scholars, Nina Yang Wen 杨闻 and Anna Liu 刘蕴娜 , carving our Thanksgiving turkey |
"Thanksgiving Day has been an annual holiday in the United Statessince 1863. Many people trace the origins of the modern Thanksgiving Day to the harvest celebration that the Pilgrims held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. However, their first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought.
In the second half of the 1600s, thanksgivings after the harvest became more common and started to become annual events. George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789. " link to Thanksgiving page.
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Cindy Cutts and Rachel Cutts
are great Thanksgiving cooks.
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I am also thankful for our daughters-in-laws, Cindy and Rachel, sons, Ross and Matt, grandchildren, Josiah and Ellie, and my husband David Cutts.
I am also thankful for our Chinese Blessing Hands family. I get so many letters of thanksgiving from our Blessing Hands students this time of year. I am glad that they are learning the custom of offering thanks for the blessings they have received. It will always be a day for me to thank God.
Happy Thanksgiving,
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Ross and Matt clean up after the
big Thanksgiving dinner
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Betty Cutts
